Ferris State Volleyball Receives Third-Straight NCAA Tourney Bid

Big Rapids, Mich. - The 2013 Ferris State University women's volleyball team will continue its season as the Bulldogs have earned a berth in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Women's Volleyball Tournament as announced late Monday (Nov. 25) evening by the national women's volleyball committee.

Ferris State, which is seeded second overall in the field, will go up against the tourney's number-seven seed Lewis (Ill.) in regional quarterfinal-round action at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich. The regional event will be held Dec. 5-7 and official match times and information will be announced soon.

Nationally-ranked GVSU was chosen as the top seed and will host the single-elimination regional tournament this season.

Ferris State will be making its third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid following back-to-back trips to the regional semifinals. FSU's upcoming regional appearance will represent the program's 18th all-time as the Bulldogs have compiled a 9-18 overall record in NCAA Tournament competition.

Ferris State and Lewis met earlier this season in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC)/Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Crossover Tournament with the Bulldogs recording a 3-0 victory in Aurora, Ill. This year marks the second consecutive season in which the two teams have been matchup up against each other in the opening round of the regional with the Bulldogs winning a year ago.

Ferris State, which is coached by 18th-year head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm, is presently 22-8 overall this campaign following a 3-1 setback to Northwood in the GLIAC Tournament Quarterfinals held last Wednesday (Nov. 20) evening at the Ewigleben Sports Arena in Big Rapids.

The Bulldogs placed tied for second overall this season in the GLIAC standings with a 15-3 league mark and it marked the third-straight year in which FSU finished either first or second in the conference. Lewis owns a 24-9 overall record this season and posted a 16-2 mark in GLVC action before falling in the conference tournament semifinals.

The Division II Women's Volleyball Committee selected a total of 64 teams to participate in the 2013 Division II Women's Volleyball Championship. Eight teams were selected from each of the following eight regions: Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West.

The eight, eight-team regionals will be played at on-campus sites. Regional competition will be single-elimination, best-of-five set matches and will not include a third-place match. The winners of each of the eight regionals will advance to the championship finals, Dec. 12-14. Competition at the final site will be single-elimination, best-of-five set matches. The site of the finals, the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, will be the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Stay tuned to FerrisStateBulldogs.com for additional information pertaining to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament and official match times once they become available.

Here are the quarterfinal-round pairings for the 2013 NCAA-II Midwest Regional Tournament: